What a time to be alive.
After years of orange barrels, closed lanes and high blood pressure, there are five freshly paved lanes open to traffic on the Mileground.
The (nearly) completed work has widened the hectic stretch of US 119 from three to five lanes, including a center turn lane, between the W.Va. 705 roundabout and Donna Avenue, at Northpointe Plaza. The improvements also include a pedestrian walkway.
Jason Nelson, District 4 construction engineer for the West Virginia Division of Highways, said crews will continue to work on drainage as well as signage and electrical tie-ins.
But from this point forward the road will remain open, fulfilling a guarantee from District 4 officials that traffic would be flowing freely before the first football Saturday this fall.
“Speaking on behalf of the county commissioners, we are thrilled to see the opening of the five lanes on the Mileground,” Monongalia County Commission President Tom Bloom said.
If it feels like the Mileground area has been under construction in some capacity for more than a decade, that’s because it has.
This was the third and final installment of a three-part saga that started in 2012 when construction began on what DOH representatives predicted would be “the busiest roundabout in West Virginia,” at the intersection of Mileground Road and W.Va. 705.
The new traffic circle opened in June 2013. At the time local officials figured the trio of Mileground traffic projects would likely be wrapped up by mid 2017.
Not quite.
Infighting locally about project designs, court battles over right of way access and, later, a global pandemic were among the issues that would dramatically extend that timeline.
As it turned out, Phase II — the realignment of Easton Hill and construction at the lower intersection with Point Marion and Cheat roads — didn’t begin until fall of 2016.
In fall 2018, Gov. Jim Justice announced major construction on the final stretch — the Mileground widening project first programmed in 2012 — would begin that calendar year.
It actually began in summer 2020 with utility relocation. As of March 2021, more than a dozen eminent domain cases remained tied up in circuit court.
A November 2022 completion date came and went. A November 2023 completion date was tentatively announced.
But during a sitdown with local officials in May, DOH representatives promised the Mileground would be open by the end of summer.
“It has been a challenge for all of us, but the wait is worth it. We hope to see other projects completed in the near future that will benefit our citizens and bring in new economic development to our area,” Bloom said.
